Southampton beats West Ham to leave Boro on top
West Ham missed the chance to go top of the EFL Championship after losing 3-2 at home to Southampton on Sunday (AEDT), allowing the Saints to close in on the top two.
Kuryu Matsuki and James Bree struck inside the opening 11 minutes to give Southampton a 2-0 lead, and while Kyle Walker-Peters pulled a goal back soon after for the Hammers, Lewis Dobbin scored a third for the Saints before half-time.
Tomas Soucek scored a late consolation for West Ham in second-half stoppage-time, but it was not enough to inspire a dramatic comeback, with the Hammers now third on the table.
Hammers boss Nuno Espirito Santo blamed a hesitant attitude for the defeat.
"We're disappointed. We started not the way we wanted and we conceded," he said.
"We were looking at the situations with hesitation, bouncing balls, too many chances for Southampton to have a second phase, third phase and achieve a goal.
"We were not good in that moment, but the reaction was good. After you start playing, you start combining, you create enormous situations.
"We tried, again, many, many situations that we could have done better. The boys fought till the end. The atmosphere was good.
"The fans helped us. All of us were having the feeling that we were able to react and revert the game, but it was not to be. It was disappointing."
While Southampton moved within three points of West Ham, second-placed Swansea City was thrashed by Queens Park Rangers.
Richard Kone scored a hat-trick after just 15 minutes, while Jummy Dunne also scored a brace as QPR pulled off a stunning 5-0 win.
Those results left Middlesbrough top of the league after its 5-1 rout of Bolton Wanderers on Saturday (AEDT).
